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NDP-union agreement on Pattullo Bridge replacement released amid accusations of government shirking responsibility to taxpayers

VANCOUVER—A provincial government decision on how to award public infrastructure project contracts came under fire Thursday when business and labour groups claiming to represent the majority of B.C.’s construction industry called for it to be scrapped.

Premier John Horgan last week announced a new Crown corporation, B.C. Infrastructure Benefits Inc., will execute an agreement with the Building Trades Unions to carry out all public infrastructure construction projects. The agreement includes prioritized hiring of local, female and Indigenous workers and a requirement that the workers be members of one of the Building Trades Unions.

The first iteration of the agreement was made public Thursday, with the release of the Pattullo Bridge replacement project agreement.

Nine business organizations, including the B.C. Chamber of Commerce and the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, wrote in a letter to the premier Thursday that the plan, called a Community Benefit Agreement, will mean an irresponsible additional cost for taxpayers and unfairly shut out up to 85 per cent of the province’s construction workforce.

“A big thing for our members is, whenever we talk to government we talk about cost efficiencies,” said Dan Baxter of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce in an interview with StarMetro on Thursday.

Baxter cited studies by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, which claimed plans like the community benefit agreement could raise costs of projects 10 to 20 per cent. That, he said, meant less funds would be available for infrastructure projects themselves.

In a statementto StarMetro, Minister of Transportation Claire Trevena said it’s true the agreement could result in “slightly escalated” costs for taxpayers. But she said those costs were “far outweighed by benefits provided to British Columbia.”

“Agreements like the CBA have a proven track record in both the private and public sector. It promotes the delivery of projects on time and on budget,” she said.

A provincial watchdog with Integrity B.C., Dermod Travis, said neither the NDP government nor the business community, is entirely right when it comes to public infrastructure awards.

“As I see it, there are three ways you can award public contracts,” he said in an interview with The Star on Thursday. “You can choose your best friend, you can choose the best price, or you can choose the best value.”

Both the NDP and the B.C. Liberals, who have previously had the support of the same business organizations that signed Thursday’s scathing letter, have awarded contracts to their “friends,” Travis said.

“Glass houses, stones, both come to mind,” he said.

In this case, the friend is the Building Trades Unions, which have been a significant donor to the NDP, Travis said.

“I don’t think we should rule out a company bidding on the project that says it’s going to pay the same wages” as companies whose employees are unionized with the business trades, Travis said. “Let’s focus on what is the end result and what are we trying to obtain by investing potentially billions of dollars in infrastructure.”

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Part of that, Travis said, includes the community benefits the government says is a cornerstone of the agreements with the building trades. Another aspect is the credibility of the companies contracted. Travis believes companies should be given grades based on previous projects so governments and businesses know whether they are trustworthy to deliver projects on time and on budget.

In a statement, the Building Trades Unions said the Pattullo CBA is “fair and inclusive,” because all contractors can bid on projects. Employees would have to become members of the union for the length of the contract.

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